Property Relations between Husband and Wife

Art. 118. The property relations between husband and wife shall be governed in the following order:

(1) By contract executed before the marriage;

(2) By the provisions of this Code; and

(3) By custom.

Art. 119. The future spouses may in the marriage settlements agree upon absolute or relative community of property, or upon complete separation of property, or upon any other regime. In the absence of marriage settlements, or when the same are void, the system of relative community or conjugal partnership of gains as established in this Code, shall govern the property relations between husband and wife.

Art. 120. A minor who according to law may contract marriage, may also execute his or her marriage settlements; but they shall be valid only if the persons designated by law to give consent to the marriage of the minor take part in theante-nuptial agreement. In the absence of the parents or of a guardian, the consent to the marriage settlements will be given by the family council.

Art. 121. In order that any modification in the marriage settlements may be valid, it must be made before the celebration of the marriage, subject to the provisions of Article 191.

Art. 122. The marriage settlements and any modification thereof shall be governed by the Statute of Frauds, and executed before the celebration of the marriage. They shall not prejudice third persons unless they are recorded in the Registry of Property.

Art. 123. For the validity of marriage settlements executed by any person upon whom a sentence of civil interdiction has been pronounced, the presence and participation of the guardian shall be indispensable, who for this purpose shall be designated by a competent court, in accordance with the provisions of the Rules of Court.

Art. 124. If the marriage is between a citizen of the Philippines and a foreigner, whether celebrated in the Philippines or abroad, the following rules shall prevail:

(1) If the husband is a citizen of the Philippines while the wife is a foreigner, the provisions of this Code shall govern their relations;

(2) If the husband is a foreigner and the wife is a citizen of the Philippines, the laws of the husband’s country shall be followed, without prejudice to the provisions of this Code with regard to immovable property.

Art. 125. Everything stipulated in the settlements or contracts referred to in the preceding articles in consideration of a future marriage shall be rendered void and without effect whatever, if the marriage should not take place. However, those stipulations that do not depend upon the celebration of the marriage shall be valid.

CHAPTER 2

DONATIONS BY REASON OF MARRIAGE

Art. 126. Donations by reasons of marriage are those which are made before its celebration, in consideration of the same and in favor of one or both of the future spouses.

Art. 127. These donations are governed by the rules on ordinary donations established in Title III of Book III, except as to their form which shall be regulated by the Statute of Frauds; and insofar as they are not modified by the following articles.

Art. 128. Minors may make and receive donations in their ante-nuptial contract, provided they are authorized by the persons who are to give their consent to the marriage of said minors.

Art. 129. Express acceptance is not necessary for the validity of these donations.

Art. 130. The future spouses may give each other in their marriage settlements as much as one-fifth of their present property, and with respect to their future property, only in the event of death, to the extent laid down by the provisions of this Code referring to testamentary succession.

Art. 131. The donor by reason of marriage shall release the property donated from mortgages and all other encumbrances upon the same, with the exception of easements, unless in the marriage settlements or in the contracts the contrary has been stipulated.

Art. 132. A donation by reason of marriage is not revocable, save in the following cases:

(1) If it is conditional and the condition is not complied with;

(2) If the marriage is not celebrated;

(3) When the marriage takes place without the consent of the parents or guardian, as required by law;

(4) When the marriage is annulled, and the donee acted in bad faith;

(5) Upon legal separation, the donee being the guilty spouse;

(6) When the donee has committed an act of ingratitude as specified by the provisions of this Code on donations in general.

Art. 133. Every donation between the spouses during the marriage shall be void. This prohibition does not apply when the donation takes effect after the death of the donor.

Neither does this prohibition apply to moderate gifts which the spouses may give each other on the occasion of any family rejoicing.

Art. 134. Donations during the marriage by one of the spouses to the children whom the other spouse had by another marriage, or to persons of whom the other spouse is a presumptive heir at the time of the donation are voidable, at the instance of the donor’s heirs after his death.

CHAPTER 3

PARAPHERNAL PROPERTY

Art. 135. All property brought by the wife to the marriage, as well as all property she acquires during the marriage, in accordance with article 148, is paraphernal.

Art. 136. The wife retains the ownership of the paraphernal property.

Art. 137. The wife shall have the administration of the paraphernal property, unless she delivers the same to the husband by means of a public instrument empowering him to administer it.

In this case, the public instrument shall be recorded in the Registry of Property. As for the movables, the husband shall give adequate security.

Art. 138. The fruits of the paraphernal property form part of the assets of the conjugal partnership, and shall be subject to the payment of the expenses of the marriage.

The property itself shall also be subject to the daily expenses of the family, if the property of the conjugal partnership and the husband’s capital are not sufficient therefor.

Art. 139. The personal obligations of the husband can not be enforced against the fruits of the paraphernal property, unless it be proved that they redounded to the benefit of the family.

Art. 140. A married woman of age may mortgage, encumber, alienate or otherwise dispose of her paraphernal property, without the permission of the husband, and appear alone in court to litigate with regard to the same.

Art. 141. The alienation of any paraphernal property administered by the husband gives a right to the wife to require the constitution of a mortgage or any other security for the amount of the price which the husband may have received.

CHAPTER 4

CONJUGAL PARTNERSHIP OF GAINS

SECTION 1. – General Provisions

Art. 142. By means of the conjugal partnership of gains the husband and wife place in a common fund the fruits of their separate property and the income from their work or industry, and divide equally, upon the dissolution of the marriage or of the partnership, the net gains or benefits obtained indiscriminately by either spouse during the marriage.

Art. 143. All property of the conjugal partnership of gains is owned in common by the husband and wife.

Art. 144. When a man and a woman live together as husband and wife, but they are not married, or their marriage is void from the beginning, the property acquired by either or both of them through their work or industry or their wages and salaries shall be governed by the rules on co-ownership.

Art. 145. The conjugal partnership shall commence precisely on the date of the celebration of the marriage. Any stipulation to the contrary shall be void.

Art. 146. Waiver of the gains or of the effects of this partnership during marriage cannot be made except in case of judicial separation.

When the waiver takes place by reason of separation, or after the marriage has been dissolved or annulled, the same shall appear in a public instrument, and the creditors shall have the right which Article 1052 grants them. (1394a)

Art. 147. The conjugal partnership shall be governed by the rules on the contract of partnership in all that is not in conflict with what is expressly determined in this Chapter.

SECTION 2. – Exclusive Property of Each Spouse

Art. 148. The following shall be the exclusive property of each spouse:

(1) That which is brought to the marriage as his or her own;

(2) That which each acquires, during the marriage, by lucrative title;

(3) That which is acquired by right of redemption or by exchange with other property belonging to only one of the spouses;

(4) That which is purchased with exclusive money of the wife or of the husband.

Art. 149. Whoever gives or promises capital to the husband shall not be subject to warranty against eviction, except in case of fraud.

Art. 150. Property donated or left by will to the spouses, jointly and with designation of determinate shares, shall pertain to the wife as paraphernal property, and to the husband as capital, in the proportion specified by the donor or testator, and in the absence of designation, share and share alike, without prejudice to what is provided in Article 753.

Art. 151. If the donations are onerous, the amount of the charges shall be deducted from the paraphernal property or from the husband’s capital, whenever they have been borne by the conjugal partnership.

Art. 152. If some credit payable in a certain number of years, or a life pension, should pertain to one of the spouses, the provisions of Articles 156 and 157 shall be observed to determine what constitutes the paraphernal property and what forms the capital of the husband.

SECTION 3. – Conjugal Partnership Property

Art. 153. The following are conjugal partnership property:

(1) That which is acquired by onerous title during the marriage at the expense of the common fund, whether the acquisition be for the partnership, or for only one of the spouses;

(2) That which is obtained by the industry, or work, or as salary of the spouses, or of either of them;

(3) The fruits, rents or interests received or due during the marriage, coming from the common property or from the exclusive property of each spouse.

Art. 154. That share of the hidden treasure which the law awards to the finder or the proprietor belongs to the conjugal partnership. (n)

Art. 155. Things acquired by occupation, such as fishing and hunting, pertain to the conjugal partnership of gains.

Art. 156. Whenever an amount or credit payable in a certain number of years belongs to one of the spouses, the sums which may be collected by installments due during the marriage shall not pertain to the conjugal partnership, but shall be considered capital of the husband or of the wife, as the credit may belong to one or the other spouse.

Art. 157. The right to an annuity, whether perpetual or of life, and the right of usufruct, belonging to one of the spouses shall form a part of his or her separate property, but the fruits, pensions and interests due during the marriage shall belong to the partnership.

The usufruct which the spouses have over the property of their children, though of another marriage, shall be included in this provision.

Art. 158. Improvements, whether for utility or adornment, made on the separate property of the spouses through advancements from the partnership or through the industry of either the husband or the wife, belong to the conjugal partnership.

Buildings constructed, at the expense of the partnership, during the marriage on land belonging to one of the spouses, also pertain to the partnership, but the value of the land shall be reimbursed to the spouse who owns the same.

Art. 159. Whenever the paraphernal property or the husband’s capital consists, in whole or in part, of livestock existing upon the dissolution of the partnership, the number of animals exceeding that brought to the marriage shall be deemed to be of the conjugal partnership.

Art. 160. All property of the marriage is presumed to belong to the conjugal partnership, unless it be proved that it pertains exclusively to the husband or to the wife.